Press



A. E. HUDSON.

PRESS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.4. 1919.

1,374,922. Patented Apr. 19,1921.

,QUNITED], STATES PA E C ALBERT E. HUDSON, 012 BEVERLY, ivrassncnusnmms, ASSIGNOR, To UNITED S MACHINERY CORPORATION, or PATERSON, New Jnas x A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

To all whom it may concemu Be it known that LAIJBERT E; HunsoN, a citizen of the United States, res1dmg at Beverly, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain 1m: p'rovements in Presses, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like reference characters on the drawings indicating like parts in the several figures.

This invention relates to presses. and'is herein set forth for the purpose of illustra-c tion, but not by way of limitation, with particular reference to its use in the cutting of sheet material by freelymovable dies.

One of the machines commonl employed in the cutting of heavy leather sock an d of substantial piles of layers of fabric 1s a press, known to the trade astlie beam clinker, and comprises characteristically a work supporting block or cutting bed and a beam or crosshead presser member carried by four rods arranged vertically in palrs at the end of the presser member by which the latter is reciprocated in pressure applying operations toward and from the cutting bed; This'machine is widely used because of its certainty in operation, the construction by whichthe presser member or beam is acted upon at both-of its ends insuring that; the

cutters or dies will be forced completely through the work at each reciprocation of the beam. It has, however, a disadvantage that limits its usefulness greatly. Slnce the beam, in its upper position of rest, is closely adjacentto and directly over the cutting bed, it is impossible because of the limited space and the restricted amount of light to determine the proper location of the'die on the work. Hence with this machine it is not possible to obtain even a close approximation of the maximum value in blanks from the material subjected to cutting ,op--

erations. Consequently, it has been proposed to modify the construction of the machine in such a manner as to uncover the 7 work supporting bed while the machine is at rest so as to afford opportunity for careful inspection of the work on the bed, and es'pe-f cially of leather stock, as a preliminary ito the positioning of the die, and topermit of proper manipulation of the work and of the die in locating it on the work. Of the constructions heretofore providean improved proposed none has y to cover a die at the rear of the cutting bed rnnss.

' It'isan object of the present invention to supporting bed so astouncover the latterto any extent desiredby the operator.

In the illustrative embodiment of the inp press of theclass de-' scr1bed.1n whlch the presser' member or Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Apr 19 1921' I p i h i p I n i 9 Application filed August 4, 1919, Serial No. 315,116.

vention the upper ends of the vertically re- 7 clprocable' rods at each end of the beamor presser member are joined together by. crossbars which provide guideways in which the ends'of the presser member are received for sliding' movements of the Dresser member reversedirection, the saidcrossbars providing also the'connecting means between the from front to rear of the machine and in the Y verticalrods and the ends of the p resser member or beam through whichqpoweris transm tted n applying the oftentimes immense pressure of the pressermemberor beam upon the work. If the vertical rods at one endof the machine be alined from frontto rear as in the well-known constructions, they will both be located at one side of the guideway in the crossbar, thus providing an organization of considerableinherent weakness. Hence it isa further object of the invention to provide operating means I for the p'resser member which, while constructed to permit oflateral' moveinentfof the presser'memberrelative to the work su great strength] porting bed, will combine,

with simplicity of construction.

In one important aspect, therefore, the inventioin contemplates the provision, in "a mach ne of c the class described in ,whlch a presser member or beam is laterally'movable with respect to the worksupporting bectofi operating means so arranged that the presser member may .be' moved laterallyf relativelytheretoand so constructed, without undue weight of material, asto insurer I the application ,ofthe requisite pressure'by thepresser' member in pressure applying: I

i i I operations;

'In operating with the illustrative machine to be driven through the workorwhen the die is located adjacentto the front edge of the presser memberwill be brought forward completely over the bed when a large die is the cutting bed. The construction is such, 2

however, that the presser member may, with complete safety, 'be moved from its rearposition forwardly a distance justsufficient and operated to force the die through the work. By this arrangement considerable time and effort will be saved, since a good' proportion of the operations do not require that the presser member be in extreme forward position.

In another aspect the invention resides in an improved press wherein the presser member may occupy various positions relative to the work supporting bed to cooperate with the whole bed or with selected portions thereof at the will of the operator.

Other objects and features of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description and will be pointed out in the claims.

Inthe drawings Figure 1 is a perspective view partly in section of a press illustrating one embodiment of the invention, and

Fig. 2 is a detail view showing a plan of one end of the press and illustrating the arrangement of the vertically reciprocable osts.

In the illustrative machine there is provided the usual work supporting bed 4, supported upon a portion of the frame 6, the latter having, preferably, bearings, one of which is shown at 8, for vertically reciprocable posts 10 one at each corner of the work supporting bed. Means are provided for connecting the posts in pairs at each end of the bed, said connecting means comprising preferably cross bars 12 which are slotted in the illustrative construction as at ll to provide guideways adapted to receive the ends of the presser member 16,. The arrangement is preferably such that the presser member may be moved laterally to uncover the work supporting bed, means being provided in the form of rollers 18 mounted in the ends of the. presser member to sustain the presser member in the guideways of the crossbars 12 and of the extensions 13 thereof and to lessen friction during the lateral movement of the presser member. In order that the operative may readily shift the presser member into position over the bed or into a position in the rear portion of the guideways so as completely to uncover the bed, handles 20 are provided on the front edge of the presser member to be grasped by the operator in moving the presser member. It will be noted that the crossbars 12 in connection with the vertical rods or posts 10 constitute the operating means for the presser member, connections being provided between the lower ends of the posts and the main shaft ofthe machine as in the well-known beam clinker construction. An important feature of the construction of the crossbars 12 is that which relates to the relative position of the crossbars and especially the upper plate portion 15 thereof with respect to the vertical posts or rods. In the illustrated construction the posts at the front of the cuttingbed are nearer together than the two posts at the rear of the cutting bed, the former being spaced a distance considerably less than the length of the presser member, while the two posts at the rear of the cutting bed are spaced apart a distance greater than the length of the presser member. By this arrangement the posts at one end of the presser member are so positioned with respect to the guideway in the connecting crossbar that they are on opposite sides of the longitudinal axis of theguideway in the crossbar and hence the upper plate 15 of the cross bar lies substantially on a line connecting the centers of the upper ends of the posts and, at the same time, overlies the adjacent end of the presser member. In other words, the construction is such as to provide in effect a crossbar extending directly between the upper ends of the posts and. overlying the end of the presser member. Obviously this construction is markedlysuperior to one in which the posts are both on the outer side of the guidewayfor, in such case, the plate which would overlie the end of the presser member would be wholly to one side of a line joining the upper ends of the posts, thus subjecting the latter to unusual anddangerous strains tending to bend or break the posts during the application of pressure upon the work. As a further means for strengthening the top plate 15 of the cross bar there is provided preferably a ridge or bar of metal integral with the top plate and indicated in the drawings by reference character 22.

In operating with the machine the presser member will ordinarily be displaced rearwardly so as completely to uncover the worksupporting bed 4:. With the presser member in rearward position, the work may be readily placed upon the bed 1 and subjected to the careful inspection'that is necessary especially with leather stock. The die is then positioned according to the best judgment of the operator and the presser member is drawn forwardly to cover the die. If the die beone of the largest used or, if it be positioned adjacent to the front edge of the bed, the presser member will be drawn forwardly to its extreme forward position and the machine tripped, as the presser member is approaching said position, to force the die through the sheet mate- With the presser member in its exrial. treme forward posltion, the operating means is so positioned with respect thereto that the one'of the smaller sizes used'and is located toward the rear'of the cuttingbed, it' is not A necessary to move the presser member to its extreme forward position since. the cross bars 12 with their extensions areof .suflicient strength to operate the presser member when the latter ismeetinggwith more moderate resistance as in'operating upon small dies.

In this connectionpit is dGSlI'GCl to call at tention to the fact that the. crossbars 12 and their extensions, 13 whichprovide the guideways for the presserfmember' are solidly constructed as. integral, imperforate members, that is, the guideway is olosed'in solidly on" three sides, there being no slot or opening other'than that through whichithe presser member enters; Since a considerable proportion of the dieing out operations will take place at the rear of the cutting bed, it is obvious that no inconsiderable saving in time and elfort will be elfected by the arrangement shown, wherein the presser member may be moved relatively shortjdistances in covering and unc'overlng the die. It should be stated, moreover, that the operators soon acquire such skill with the operation of the machine that they trip the machineto cause a pressure applying opera- ,'tion while the presser member is moving 30' 7 toward position over the die.

Having thus described my invention, what I. claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

'1. In a machine of the class described, a

work supporting bed, a presser member movable toward and from said bedand also laterally with respect to the bed, and means" ,for operating the presser member in pressure applying operations comprising vertically reciprocable rods and cross plates connected to said rods and arranged'to engage one over each end of the presser member comprising verticallyv reciprocable rods, and cross bars connecting said rods in palrs at each end of the presser member and each having a plate provided with a reinforced portionarranged to overlie the end of the presser member along both sides of a' line connecting the upper ends of the rods.

I 3. In a machine of the class described, a

' work supporting bed, a' presser member,

means tom'ove the presser member toward and from the bed in pressure applying operations comprlsing reclprocable rods arranged in pairs at each end of. thexpr esser member, crossbars connecting-the rods in pairs and each comprising a plate arranged to overlie the adjacent end of the presser member along bothsides of a line passing throu h the plate-engaging ends of the rods. '4.

na machine of thepclass described, a Work supporting bed, a presser member movable toward and from, the bed-in pressure applying 3 operations, I means for operating the presser member. comprising: vertica-ll 3 reciprocable rods arranged in pairs ateacii endof the presser. member, the. arrangementibeing such that the distance between the two vertical rods atflthe frontiof the machine is less than the length of the presser member while the distancebetweenthe two rods at therear of the machine is greater than the length of the presser member, and crossbars connecting said rodsinpairs at each end of the presser member and having portions which overlie the ends of the presser member. 1 Y

5. Ina machine of the class described, a

work supporting bed, a presser 'memlber, means, for moving the presser member in pressure applying operations toward and 'from the work supporting bed comprising vertically reciprocable rods arranged in' pairs at opposite ends ofthe presser member, and crossbars connecting said rods and each provided with a guideway for slidably receiving the adjacent end of the presser member, the construction and arrangement being suchthat the upper ends of the rods lie on opposite sides'of the longitudinal axis a of the guideway so that the upper portion of each crossbar provides, a cross plate lying on an axis passing through the centers of V the rods and overlying the ends of the presser member.

,6. In a machine of the class described, a work supporting bed, a presser a, member, means for operating the presser member in pressure applying movements toward and from the work supporting bed comprising vertically reciprocable rods and crossbars connecting said-rods in pairs at the ends of the presser member, each crossbar being pro vided with a guideway for slidably receiving the end of the presser member, the crossbars throughout their length providing guideways having integral and, imperforate walls onthree sides.

7. In a machine ofthe class described, a

' work supporting -bed,'a presser member, ver- 7 tically reciprocable posts arranged in pairs at each end of the presser member, and

crossbars connecting the posts in pairs at,

each end of the presser member and provided with guideways for slidably receivingthe adjacent end of the presser memher, the presser member being constructed and arranged for cooperation withthebed ii -pressure applying operations when in positions intermediate of its extremelfor ward and rearward 'llmlts of movement as Well as when 1n its extreme forward P0814 tion. a

8. Ina machine of the class describedya work supporting bed, a presser member,

her, the posts being so arranged that the planes defined by the posts at each end of the presser member converge to .a line in front of the machine, andiplates connecting the posts and overlying the respective end of the presser member.

9. In a machine of the class described, a

work supporting bed, a presser member, vertically reciprocable posts arranged in pairs at each end of the presser member, crossbars connecting the posts in pairs at each end of the presser member and provided with guideways for slidablyreceiving the adjacent ends of thepresser member, and means for manually moving the presser member in said guideways, the presser member being constructed and arranged to cooperate in pressure applying operations with'the whole or any desired portion of said work supporting bed at the will of the operator.

In testimony whereof Ihave signed my name to this specification. l

- ALBERT E. HUDSON. V 

